Thread: Which Athlete/Sportsman do you admire the most?

Watching Usain Bolt tonight along with Andy Murray winning in Montreal and Tiger just losing the USPGA.

Got me thinknig whose the best of the best.

Below pretty much my list of top sportsmen that I have seen in my lifetime. However if you had to pick one from your own list, which Athlete/Sportsman do you admire the most?

Football - Zinedine Zidane

Golf- Tiger Woods

Boxing - Sugar Ray Leonard

Athletics- Carl Lewis

Formula 1- Ayrton Senna

Tennis- Roger Federer

Basketball- Michael Jordan

American Football -Jerry Rice

Cycling - Lance Armstrong


The Athlete/Sportsman for me that comes out on top of all others, big shock is the guy in my Avatar.

Football - Maradona

Golf- Padraig Harrington

Boxing - Cassius Clay

Athletics- Jesse Owens

Formula 1- Michael Shumacher

Tennis- Pete Sampras

BasketBall- Michael Jordan

American football -Walter Payton

Cycling - Lance Armstrong

Dermy if you had to pick one above all others from your list?

Originally Posted by Ellboy

Dermy if you had to pick one above all others from your list?

It would be hard to choose i admire Lance for what he over came and didn't give up. Ali because he refused to go to Vietnam served his time in prison and became champ and Jesse Owens because of him cleaning up Gold left right and centre in front of Hitler. It would be between them three but if i had to Choose i would go for Lance Armstrong just pure determination and the never give up attitude is something unbelieveable and very respectsble and make him a legend in my book.

I take it from your avatar and sig he would be your number one?

Originally Posted by Dermy21

It would be hard to choose i admire Lance for what he over came and didn't give up. Ali because he refused to go to Vietnam served his time in prison and became champ and Jesse Owens because of him cleaning up Gold left right and centre in front of Hitler. It would be between them three but if i had to Choose i would go for Lance Armstrong just pure determination and the never give up attitude is something unbelieveable and very respectsble and make him a legend in my book.

I take it from your avatar and sig he would be your number one?

I agree it's very difficult to separate.

The guy's you mentioned all have overcome many obstacles and achieved great things, truly inspirational sportsman.

Yep Lance would be my number 1, not only for bouncing back from his illness but to win 7 tours of such severe endurance seperates him from the rest . Competing is one thing but winning them is unreal, especially while constantly under drug taking tests and scrutiny, his desire to be the best is awe inspiring. That alone makes him stand out, but to comeback and compete as he did this year after enduring surgery 4 weeks before the Tour was just incredible. A fully fit Armstrong may have been good enough to win it again, and at the age of 37 in that sport that would have been unheard off. Next year there is every chance that he will write his name into the history books once more.

Originally Posted by Ellboy

I agree it's very difficult to separate.

The guy's you mentioned all have overcome many obstacles and achieved great things, truly inspirational sportsman.

Yep Lance would be my number 1, not only for bouncing back from his illness but to win 7 tours of such severe endurance seperates him from the rest . Competing is one thing but winning them is unreal, especially while constantly under drug taking tests and scrutiny, his desire to be the best is awe inspiring. That alone makes him stand out, but to comeback and compete as he did this year after enduring surgery 4 weeks before the Tour was just incredible. A fully fit Armstrong may have been good enough to win it again, and at the age of 37 in that sport that would have been unheard off. Next year there is every chance that he will write his name into the history books once more.

He did look very good and strong on the last tour and as you say fully fit he could well win it again. Coming up against constent drugs tests and scrutiny was a joke people were trying to fault him and through him off because he was the best there was and absoloute hero if ever there was one! If there were only more genuine champion athletes like that around!

Football - Juan Roman Riquelme. Brought up in poverty and arguably the best midfielder I've ever seen. Yes, I think he was that good.

I also admire guys like Ryan Giggs for his professionalism.

Golf - Tiger Woods. I just love how brilliant he is under pressure.

Boxing - Joe Frazier. I admire his courage, his fighting skills, his background and his temperament.

Tennis - Roger Federer, he's just brilliant to watch.

Basketball - Kobe Bryant. I admire his determination to win, the same as Tiger Woods.

American Football - Tom Brady. Like Federer, I love watching him.

Football - Naka for his dedication to play for his NT, overcome all obstacles, and set an example for those behind him.

American Football - Troy Smith. From poverty and a broken family to hero. At every level of the sport he's been deemed a long-shot unlikely to succeed, but never gives up and always strives to improve. A leader that has a lot of compassion for his team mates.

Basketball - LeBron James. The very definition of a strong leader who can carry a team all by himself.

Baseball (yea I know it's not a real sport, but I grew up around it) - Ichiro. Embodies the spirit of professionalism and personal excellence.

Henrik Larsson - greatest professional in football.

Football - Zinedine Zidane

Golf- Tiger Woods

Athletics- Usain Bolt

Tennis- Roger Federer

Basketball- Michael Jordan

Cycling - Lance Armstrong

DJ carey, the greatest hurler ever

Originally Posted by clagan

DJ carey, the greatest hurler ever

You forgetting Cristy Ring Clags??

cycling: miguel indurain



nicknamed "the terminator" guy would never show any signs of cracking pressure pain etc could just keep going, he dominated the tour de france for 5 years and the french hated the fact a spaniard was doing so

the guys a freak too his heart is twice the average size with a resting heartbeat of 28 bmp, hes 6 foor 2, his Vo2 max levels were 88 ml/kg/min - almost double that of an untrained man or woman

and hes such a quiet big modest guy

Originally Posted by Green2thecore

OK then, he faced adversity growing up in a country who had only recently abolished slavery. And in which he had to encounter racism on a daily basis in the pursuit of achieving his goals. I would there fore still include him in my list.

I must admit I was unaware of his father's job. I had read a piece in which he described hustling other guys at the golf course to get the money to play on the course that day. Due to the fact he was black and also the story I mentioned above, I then presumed he was from an impoverished background.

Shocking. You should take a good look at yourself before you epically screw up the timeline and then proceed to show hypocrisy for everyone to see.
Even in such a racist country as America, you'd get clobbered over the head for making that kind of assumption.